Kingdom Hearts: Darkened Hearts
by American-Wizard
Summary: Two years after Kingdom Hearts 1 (And CoM doesn't exist) Ansem has freed himself from the shadows and now seeks out the heart of pure light and heart of pure darkness.


**DISCLAIMER**: I own nothing, KH and everything afilliated belongs to disney and square enix  
I apologize now, the first three chapters will be a little short due to introductions, etc. The forth and so on chapters will be much longer

The darkness envelopes him like a cold blanket. Here in the darkness is where he has been trapped for the past two years. Two years may not seem like that long but it is when you spend each day in a never ending pain. By now all it is, is a dull headache, one that will never go away. He counts to pass the seconds, to pass the time. He thought he would count forever, but that was not the case. A long time ago a boy told him that there is light in every darkness. He looked towards the sky and saw a little speck of light. There was a light in every shadow, and after waiting seven hundred and thirty days, forty three thousand, eight hundred hours, two million six hundred, twenty eight thousand minutes, one hundred fifty seven million, six hundred eighty thousand seconds he finally found his escape. He reached for it, stretching out every part of him just to get that little bit further.

**Ansem's Castle**

After Ansem was defeated two years ago his castle went to ruins. His home, not to be confused with Hallow Bastion, was where he first discovered the powers of the heartless and were some still roaming about in the dungeons. Although most of the rooms were dusty and undone there were still a few that actually looked livable that's because Ansem had a few house guests. His main lab and main bedroom were still clean due to a few moogles that lived around. The one person who kept the lab clean and running was a young man named Ark. Ark was waiting for something but he didn't know what. Something had drawn him to this place and he wasn't going to leave until what needed to be done was done. He worked for hours in Ansem's lab trying to find out what Ansem was doing. The heartless in the basement gave way to some sort of act of God, or Satan. One day while he was sitting in the study there was a rather large quake. A moogle by the name of Starstrick flew into the study and started squeaking wildly. Something bad was going on in the lab. Ark threw down the book, grabbed his sword and took off after Starstrick.

Inside the lab was a heartless, the shadow. This surprised Ark since none of the heartless have actually ventured this far into the castle. He drew his sword and prepared to attack but before he could the heartless changed form and melted into the ground creating a puddle of shadows. Curiously Ark moved closer to it and leaned over looking at it. Suddenly a human hand shot up out of it which startled Ark backwards. The hand grabbed onto the ground pulsating slowly. Then another hand shot out, this one was holding a key blade. Ark was speechless, he had read about the key blades only in a few of Ansem's books but never thought he would ever see a real one. He didn't have much time to stare as the owner of the hands pulled himself out of the shadows. The man had long red hair, he wore a black overcoat with golden trim. Even though he was without shirt you could clearly see a symbol that looked like the old heartless symbol on the creatures down below. The Symbol starts on his lower chest and disappears into his black pants. He coughed as he lifted himself up and dusted himself off. He then lifted up his keyblade and then threw it aside.

"Worthless piece of shit. Instead of helping me all it did was assist in keeping me trapped. I will construct something more powerful", said the man with anger in his voice. It was only after he threw the blade aside that he noticed the boy and the moogle that looked at him strangely. "Who are you? What are you doing in my castle?" he demanded.

"Your castle? Lord Ansem you have returned?" asked Ark as he took a knee and grabbed Starstrick and forced her into a bow as well.

"Lord Ansem?" he pondered this for a second, "I've been gone for two years, have you been here this entire time?"

"Yes milord. Just myself and a few moogles, there aren't enough of us to keep the entire castle in order and there are still heartless in the basement".

"How do you know of the heartless and who I am? I do not recognize you from before I was trapped."

"My name is Ark and I came here looking for a purpose. I read through all your books and realize that it is my purpose to help you and assist you in whatever it is that you need. I knew you would one day return so I waited patiently for you." He slowly rose and turned to Starstrick, "Go and fetch our master some food and drink".

"Just call me Ansem. Only those who fear me should call me Lord and Master. What is still intact?"

"Your lab and master bedroom are still in order as well as a few other rooms, including the kitchen."

"And my ship?"

"With resources low your ship is still intact. It may need a few new parts but it should get you to the closest world if that is what you desire"

"I am going to withdraw to my room. Lock the keyblade up, I am going to create a more fitting weapon." He began to leave the room when he stopped, "Find me Riku and Sora". With that he left.

Ark rose and went over to the keyblade and picked it up. It was heavier than he expected. He put away his sword and walked past the puddle of shadows again, it seemed different than before. A foul presence emitted from within and he knew right away that it wasn't an ordinary shadow. After a moment a Soldier was formed.

_"Curious, it seemed to grow into a more powerful heartless, I wonder if it's because of Ansem."_ Ark laid it on the table and began to latch it down, _"Why would he need this to be strapped down?"_ Ark sighed heavily and left the lab to retire to his own room. The keyblade shook violently when he left the room and then came to a stop, the light was strong but it was fading, slowly fading.

Ansem's Report 14  
_Two long hard years.  
I realized that the keyblade doesn't possess the true power of the light.  
I also realized that I didn't possess the true power of the shadows.  
Light, Shadows, there must be a completely pure heart of each somewhere.  
With that power I can finally accomplish what I sought before.  
I can protect them._


End file.
